Date: 1996–1997
Location: Las Vegas, Nevada, and Los Angeles, California
The Conspirators: Various
The Victims: Tupac and Biggie and anyone who loved their music
Rappers Tupac Shakur and The Notorious B.I.G. were at the top of their games when they were murdered six months apart in drive-by shootings. And their fame was such that their deaths drew conspiracy theories from all sorts of fans desperate to find a rationalization. Some theorists blamed the police, some blamed the rappers’ own associates, and some even claim they are still alive.
Although both their killings remain officially unsolved, authorities have little doubt that both Tupac and Biggie died as the result of gang retaliations, no conspiracy theories needed.
The mid-1990s saw the beginning of the infamous East Coast vs. West Coast hip-hop feud—if you believe the newspapers. Today’s popular version of the story says that rapper Tupac Shakur “represented” the West Coast, and his rival Chris “Notorious B.I.G.” Wallace, aka Biggie, “represented” the East Coast. The alleged feud began when East Coast artists were said to be resentful that West Coast labels wouldn’t publish their music, and so began putting insults directed at the Los Angeles scene into their music. L.A. artists fired right back, and there were plenty of petty disputes and gang rivalries to go around.
The rivalry became firmly established as a violent one in 1994 when Tupac—who was in New York City on trial for sexual assault—was shot five times by three assailants in a recording studio, and was robbed of the $45,000 worth of jewelry he was wearing. Tupac survived, and made no secret that he blamed Biggie and his associate Sean Combs (later known as Puff Daddy) of being behind it.
Tupac then served his prison sentence for the sexual assault. Once he got out in late 1995, he contracted with Suge Knight, owner of Death Row Records, and the two became friends. Knight blamed Combs for the murder of a friend. There was no love lost between the pairs of Tupac and Knight, and Biggie and Combs.
Then, in 1996, Tupac was in Las Vegas with Knight for a Mike Tyson boxing match. Later that night, Tupac and Knight were driving on the strip when their car was sprayed with bullets, mortally wounding Tupac, who died a few days later.
Six months later, Biggie and Combs were in Los Angeles—Tupac and Knight’s turf—for an event, when a car pulled alongside Biggie’s and opened fire, killing him. Combs, following in the car behind, was uninjured.
Now, the two biggest names in the East Coast vs. West Coast hip-hop feud were both dead . . . and it didn’t take long for the conspiracy theories to arise.
Some have claimed that it was Suge Knight himself who contracted for Tupac to be killed, believing that Tupac wanted out of his contract to start a rival label. And Knight himself has been the primary promoter of two contradictory claims. One says Tupac was accidentally murdered by a conspiracy between Knight’s ex-wife Sharitha Golden and Death Row employee Reggie Wright Jr. They say Tupac simply got caught in the cross fire in a failed attempt to kill Knight himself. Another theory says that Tupac is actually still alive.
When it comes to theories surrounding Biggie’s death, his mother is responsible for most of them. Biggie’s mother filed a wrongful death lawsuit against the LAPD in 2002 claiming that rogue police officers were the ones who murdered her son. The case turned out to be one of the longest and most expensive in the history of Los Angeles. This theory was publicized in the book LAbyrinth, which claimed that the LAPD did not investigate this lead out of fear that it would draw attention to corruption in their anti-gang unit. The lawsuit was ultimately dismissed—with Biggie’s estate claiming the reason was that the investigation against the LAPD was “reinvigorated,” and the LAPD claiming the dismissal was initiated by Biggie’s estate. The court does not give its reason, and so the mystery continues to fuel the conspiracy theories.
Conspiracy theories notwithstanding, the Los Angeles Police Department has always generally known what happened; it just doesn’t have specific names and faces to bring to trial. The deaths of Tupac and Biggie were simple gang retaliations. You see, Suge Knight was a close associate of a violent L.A. gang called Mob Piru. Knight also wanted to publish Tupac’s next albums. So when Tupac had his legal troubles in New York, Knight offered to pay Tupac’s legal fees in exchange for Tupac letting him publish his next few albums. Tupac agreed, but when he took Knight’s money, he automatically made himself a target of Mob Piru’s enemies.
These enemies notably included the Compton Crips, another violent L.A. gang. While in Las Vegas, Tupac, Knight, and others of their entourage violently attacked Compton Crips member Orlando Anderson inside the casino. A few hours later Tupac was shot in the drive-by shooting. Investigators had little doubt that it was other Compton Crips who were responsible, retaliating for Anderson’s beating. They believe both Tupac and Knight knew who the killers were, but it’s not the kind of information gangs freely share with the authorities. When police asked the dying Tupac who pulled the trigger, he spoke his final words: “F--- you.” His murder remains unsolved.
As for the theory that Knight himself contracted the shooting? Well, Knight was seated in the car next to Tupac and was struck in the head by shrapnel. If he were going to contract a hit, you’d think he’d make sure it happened when he was out of the line of fire.
Regarding Knight’s assertion that it was his ex-wife trying to murder him that resulted in the accidental death of Tupac, it’s just another claim that is backed up by no evidence. Police investigators never found any reason to suspect her. Her own response to Knight’s charge was fairly pointed:
If I wanted to kill Suge, believe me, his ass would be dead.
Now, when it comes to Biggie’s gang ties, whenever Biggie and Combs were in Los Angeles, they hired the Compton Crips as personal security. So just by being in town, Biggie was an irritant to Mob Piru, many of whom blamed him and/or Combs for Tupac’s murder, which makes it pretty likely that any Mob Piru gang member could have killed him. Some evidence has also suggested that Biggie may have been killed by one of the Compton Crips—his own security—with whom he had a financial dispute.
After Biggie was killed, Combs, who was a witness, would not cooperate with police—much like Tupac. Almost certainly, it was another case of gangsters preferring to handle their own retaliation, rather than be snitches for the police.
A Mob Piru gang member named Poochie, aka Wardell Fouse, aka Darnell Bolton, has often been implicated in Biggie’s murder. One retired LAPD detective has claimed that confidential informants verified that Knight’s girlfriend paid Poochie $13,000 to kill Biggie to get revenge for Tupac, but the detective was pulled off the case before he could prove it.
Further tipping the scales toward both murders having been no more than gang retaliations is that immediately following Tupac’s murder, violence broke out in Los Angeles between the Compton Crips and Mob Piru. At least two gang members were killed.
When all is said and done, conspiracy theories that claim that the deaths of Tupac Shakur and The Notorious B.I.G. were part of an East Coast/West Coast hip-hop rivalry are just not true. These theories are not only inconsistent with the structure of the gang tensions that are known to have existed; they also don’t really explain either murder since both Tupac and Biggie were born and raised in New York. Instead, these theories appear to be the invention of the media, eager to link the two deaths by attaching a romantic pop culture angle to them.